UN Security Council To Discuss Syria

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov

The United Nations Security Council is expected to gather at a closed-door session on January 27 to consider a new draft resolution aimed at ending the violence in Syria.

The text calls for "a political transition" in Syria, according to the Reuters news agency.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying that the draft was unacceptable to Russia because it contains "no fundamental consideration for our position."

Russia and China have already used their veto powers at the Council to reject an earlier proposal.

WATCH: Heavy shelling and gunfire rocks the Syrian city of Hama

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

Syrian City Under Fire


Meanwhile, the head of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria, Sudanese General Muhammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, said on January 27 that violence had risen in the Middle Easern country "in a significant way" in three days, particularly in the cities of Homs, Hama, and Idlib.

The Syrian government's crackdown on protesters has already cost more than 5,400 lives since mass demonstrations began in March, according to UN estimates.

compiled from agency reports